Borysiuk, Koman star in Chennaiyin victory

Chennaiyin FC rode a second-half blitz to move to the third spot in the points table as it heaped more misery on NorthEast United FC with a 2-1 victory in the Indian Super League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.

Laldanmawia Ralte helped NorthEast take the lead in the 35th minute before Ariel Borysiuk (52’) and Vladimir Koman (58’) struck for Chennaiyin within a space of six minutes. Following the result, CFC jumped to third from seventh with 18 points from 12 matches while NEUFC remains at the foot of the table with just nine points from 13 games.

Chennaiyin started the match on the front foot, displaying some eye-catching passing football and keeping the rival defenders on their toes. Nerijus Valskis warmed Mirshad Michu’s gloves early on as the ‘Blues’ seemed to play with more purpose. Against the run of play, Laldanmawia broke free but wasted an opportunity.

But, he did not have to wait long to atone for his mistake as Laldanmawia found the back of the net albeit fortuitously in the 35th minute. CFC goalkeeper Debjit Majumder was to blame for coming off his line unnecessarily and conceding a corner. Off the flag-kick, Debjit was again caught on the wrong foot as he flapped down the ball unconvincingly into the danger area for a lurking Laldanmawia to slot home. At half-time, NorthEast led 1-0 and looked to turn the tide after Chennaiyin dominated the first half-an-hour. But in the second period, CFC took the game by the scruff of the neck. Rahim Ali put the ball in the path of Borysiuk, whose effort deflected off Sehnaj Singh’s right boot to go inside.

Things took a turn for the worse for NEUFC as goalkeeper Mirshad looked in a lot of discomfort but coach Khalid Jamil decided to keep him on until his poor outing cost the team the second goal. Koman’s free-kick missed everyone as Mirshad ventured out of his line to see the ball go past him and into the back of the net.

Subhasish Roy Choudhary then replaced him. Stung by the twin setback, Jamil sent newly-signed forward Marcelinho in for Laldanmawia in the 64th minute and the Brazilian made an immediate impact. Marcelinho tried his luck from range before his delicious corner found Patrick Flottmann, whose header came off the post with his rebound flying over the bar.

Hernan Santana blew a golden opportunity closer to full-time when he sent a free header off target from a Marcelinho corner. Debjit then redeemed himself with a double save from Marco Sahanek and Imran Khan on the rebound.

Result: Chennaiyin FC 2 (A Borysiuk 52, V Koman 58) bt NorthEast United 1 (Laldanmawia 35)